re: BREW
There is no specific mention of BREW in this article but it describes issues around the world BREW intends to play in.
SIM ToolKit is described pretty well (and although STK is much more rudimentary than BREW it has some similarities).
Java Card and Java SIM are mentioned. I suspect BREW will complement both quite nicely.
Though you might find this interesting.
>> UK: Hands on - PDA & Mobile Devices - Mobile support
Simon Rockman
Personal Computer World
02/2001
With the arrival of operating systems for mobile phones, Simon Rockman looks at the implications.
The mobile phone industry has never had to worry about getting different devices to interoperate. Instead the only optional extras that would work with your phone were the peripherals developed by the manufacturer.
This is all about to change - a change made necessary by the advent of operating systems for phones. Up until now phones, which are usually ARM based, have been treated as embedded devices. One of the most popular operating systems is Nucleus; but even the most geeky mobile phone owner wouldn't be able to answer the question 'What OS is in your phone?' And it hasn't mattered because there is no software you can buy to run in the phone.
The nearest thing to software for your mobile phone has been SIM toolkit.
At its most basic, SIM toolkit allows a network operator to access the phone over the air, then download and run a program within it. Programs can put a menu on the screen of the phone, get user input or display text.
They can also set up a voice or data call, send a text message or use one of a huge range of other messaging protocols. Since the SIM holds the encryption algorithm for the network, a program written under SIM toolkit can take advantage of that for security purposes.
It's not unusual for networks to want to add services to the phone; from launch in 1994 One2One has offered teleshopping from menus within the phone. Until now these had to be hardwired into the phone and could not be altered. You might have a million users out there, but it's impossible to reach them with a new service unless they buy a new handset. And if you want to terminate a service you can't remove it from the menu of customer phones - all you can do is take the call and say that the service is no longer available.
SIM Toolkit works in two halves: The first is the application programming interface (API) that runs on the phone and the second is the software that runs in the SIM card. The phone takes requests from the card and turns them into displays and prompts on the screen of the phone.
The first generation of the SIM toolkit application uses code that is specific to the design of the card produced by the SIM card vendor. However, we'll soon start to see Java-enabled SIM cards using a cut-down version of Java called Java Card. Despite the overhead of using a bulky language like Java, this development will open up the compatibility and competition between card vendors. Java Card has been modified to reduce the overhead compared with traditional Java as it doesn't need to support graphics or floating point and security is handled by the network. However, until Java Card enters widespread usage, SIM toolkit programming will be the only method available to network operators wanting to customise phones.
The amount of memory in the phone needed by the SIM toolkit is not that large, around 100KB of the megabyte of memory that is usually present in a mobile phone. However, the worrying aspect for operators is that, as applications creep up in size, they may need to upgrade the smart cards used by customers. It might prove prudent to use cards with larger memories than strictly necessary to allow room for future growth.
A landmark project using SIM toolkit was undertaken by Gemplus, Alcatel, Cellnet and Barclays bank. This phone was built on an existing product that used a custom phone and an alpha version of the SIM toolkit specification.
The aim of the technology is to provide a cashpoint screen on your phone.
To get a Barclaycard balance the customer selects the B icon in the phone - or rather the SIM toolkit - menu, then the menu option for balance/credit and enters a special PIN called a telecode. The phone calls the appropriate number as a normal voice call and then hangs up. The information that is passed to the network in the usual course of making a voice call is enough for the computers at Barclaycard to know who you are. The number the phone calls - which you never know - determines which service you require. Just what information is extracted Barclaycard won't divulge, but at no time is account information transmitted from the phone.
The reply is sent as a special SMS in less than 10 minutes - typically a lot less - and held on the phone. Unlike standard SMS messages it isn't automatically displayed, so anyone looking at the phone won't see the state of your account. The SMS is encrypted using a 24bit DES algorithm.
GSM phones are pretty secure anyway and with 37 million of them in use in the UK the chance of anyone getting hold of the call they want is wildly remote, but Barclays' attitude is 'we are a bank it has to be absolutely secure'.
However, despite impressive developments like this, the SIM toolkit has been underestimated as a source of mobile phone viruses. There has been publicity about SMS-based viruses but nothing on SIM toolkit. It's still a safer environment than a PC in terms of viruses, as mobile phones cannot propagate SIM toolkit applications. If I have an infected phone I can't pass it on to anyone else. It would, however, be possible to send an SMS out with details of any number a phone had made calls to or received calls from, or which cell the phone happened to be in, just the thing for government agencies and tracking unfaithful spouses.
New OS issues
Things are going to get a lot more interesting with the new generation of mobile devices which will have real operating systems. There are several runners in the field. Microsoft is making a great play with Pocket PC, but the dominant force is Symbian, with Palm OS also bringing the largest number of users to the party. There are a couple of other possibilities - Geoworks as found in the Nokia 9110 and Blackberry, which is being launched in the UK by BT Cellnet.
However, the real battle is between Symbian and Pocket PC. Several of the major companies - including Nokia and Motorola - have licensed Palm OS but we're likely to see this most often being used as a user interface sitting on top of the Symbian OS. This battle is already beginning to produce products.
One device that points very strongly to the future is the Compaq iPAQ.
While the iPAQ doesn't currently support cellular connectivity, you can add this functionality to the device if you take the long way round and are prepared to work out how to do the integration yourself. You'll need the iPAQ, its PC-Card adaptor and a Nokia Cardphone 2.0.
Now this should all work straight out of the box, but unfortunately it doesn't. While the Cardphone looks just like a Hayes-compatible PC Card, it doesn't operate like one. Pocket PC uses a 16bit bus, but the Cardphone expects a 32bit bus. Fixing this needs drivers. It's interesting that neither Microsoft, nor Nokia feels the market big enough to justify the development of drivers. However, TBS in Derby (www.tbs.co.uk) has come to the rescue. TBS acts as a system integrator for lots of big corporate clients who want to use mobile data. The drivers are necessary for TBS to be able to sell complete solutions.
Unfortunately, there is no one place a private customer can simply turn up and buy all the necessary bits. The iPAQ can be difficult to find as it's still in short supply. Once you've got one of these you'll then need to find the #70 PC Card adaptor. The best place to buy the Cardphone is an Orange dealer. Orange is one of the few networks in the world to support 28.8Kbits/sec data. You'll probably want a separate account for data and Orange will charge you #5 a month over and above the normal tariff to use this higher speed.
You can contact TBS on 01773 828 766 in order to purchase the drivers.
They're not cheap at #55, but you're not really paying for the drivers but rather paying for the support since Nokia, Compaq and Microsoft won't have a mechanism to support you. This is a shame because most of the problems seem to be down to Pocket PC.
In the three weeks I've had the Compaq, I hit hard and soft reset more times than I have in 10 years with a Psion. When it works it's wonderful.
You really can walk down the street and surf at an acceptable speed. And the UK is one of the very few places in the world where you can do this, but a few things need to be sorted out before this becomes a mass-market proposition.
Someone is going to have to learn how to support these converging technologies.
One of the mobile phone networks has recently employed a consultancy to decide who. I met with one of the consultants - Guy Swarbrick, an ex-editor of PCW - over a beer and sandwich. I gave my view that I don't think the mobile phone dealers are up to understanding the computer side of this integration. It's going to be the computer dealers who have to learn the mobile stuff and until that happens we won't really have mobile data, just a collection of toys. Good toys though. <<
- Eric - |
